Opinion
Kansans in care facilities have a right to visitors — it’s time to give them a voice
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Mitzi E. McFatrich is the executive director of Kansas Advocates for Better Care. We see the images — older adults in beds and wheelchairs, separated by […]
Hey, Kobach and Marshall: By attacking trans people, you hurt Kansas
Kris Kobach made his name by punching down. He rose to prominence by targeting undocumented immigrants, one of the least powerful groups of people in this country. Over the summer, increasingly abandoned by his party in the race for Pat Roberts’ U.S. Senate seat, Kobach threw punches at an even less-powerful group: transgender people. In […]
Kansans must ask leaders to support child care
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. John Wilson is president of Kansas Action for Children. As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across Kansas and the nation, all eyes are on the K-12 education […]
Weather alert — smoke blowing in this Kansas Senate race
Late July is the traditional forecasting season in Kansas: Trying to predict which brand of Republican, conservative or “moderate,” will win the party’s primary on the first Tuesday of August. The game is less fun since actual moderate Republicans are as threatened as lesser prairie chickens. But this year, a couple of primaries stand out. […]
We need to see more names and faces of Kansans lost to COVID-19
When Fern Chester Meek, a 22-year-old former high school teacher from Coffey County, Kansas, succumbed to the pandemic, the pain his community felt was heartbreaking. A local paper reported that the last time Meek had visited Lebo, he’d umpired a baseball game. Another piece recalled that he’d been active in debate in high school and […]
One way to find peace in the time of COVID-19: Discover a Kansas River
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Jessica Mounts is executive director for the Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams. In the spring of 2004, I stood chest-deep in the Arkansas River in […]
Kansas school board member tutors Zoom hostages on dangerous voting
Here’s a textbook case, Kansas, on what happens when people don’t pay enough attention to down-ballot elections. It happened a little after an hour into Wednesday’s meeting of the Kansas State Board of Education, whose members were deciding whether to approve Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order delaying the start of public and private school instruction […]
Attention Kansas leaders: Here is mental health help from the state’s most famous psychologist
Facing a horrifying midsummer surge of coronavirus cases, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly wanted to delay the start of the school year for three weeks. It seemed reasonable. Everyone wants things to get back to normal. Parents want to send their kids back to school. Teachers want to be back with their students. Maybe even some […]
COVID-19 adds another barrier to census effort in southwest Kansas
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Blanca Soto is southwest Kansas campaign director at Kansas Appleseed. For most households, completing the 2020 census is quick and easy. But for some it isn’t, […]
At the Kansas Capitol, progress always comes with pain
There’s this beautiful thing that sometimes happens at the Kansas Capitol. A group of people will stop in front of some striking piece of art, and a tour guide will tell them a story. They’re usually kids on field trips or elders, perhaps with an RV parked outside. They look enraptured. “It’s an awe-inspiring building,” […]
I was on front lines, and sidelines, of pandemic coverage. Now, I’m living the dream.
At the height of an unprecedented health crisis, I found myself on the sidelines. I knew somebody who knew somebody, and before I knew it, I had accepted an offer for my dream job — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to launch a nonprofit news organization dedicated to serving the people of Kansas.